Rivers and Roads: OTH The Next Generation
by firecrackers19
Summary: Sequel to Honey and the Bee. Come experience the summer with the new generation of Tree Hill teens. Hot days full of jealousy, hate, lust, fights, heartbreak and maybe even some love.
1. Shadows and Regrets

**As promised, here is the sequel to my first story Honey and the Bee. This takes place during the summer after Honey and the Bee.**

**Chapter One – Shadows and Regrets**

"What about the new Script CD?" Lydia asked as she flipped through stacks and stacks of CD's looking for something new.

"Yeah, it's really good. Actually they're going to be in Charlotte next week, did you want to go?"

"Totally."

"Cool, I'll get the tickets." Johnny said. The two teens had become fast friends, realizing they had a lot more in common than they, or anyone else, had thought. Lydia was good for Johnny, their friendship made him happy and he was able to forget about Sawyer and all the drama. Lydia also found solace in Johnny. When Sawyer left she lost her best friend, and it was nice that she had someone she could talk to, and knew how she felt. While both teens missed Sawyer, they had trouble admitting it. Anger was more present in them than anything thing else, they felt as though she had abandoned them. Because of this, they knew exactly what to say and what not to say, and were able to form a fast bond.

"Do you think The Killers are ever going to come back to North Carolina?" Lydia asked.

"I'm sure they'll come back eventually, everyone does." A female voice answered. Both Johnny and Lydia turned and saw Sawyer Scott standing behind them, looking as gorgeous as ever, wearing a grey racerback tank and black cutoffs. Her long blonde hair was slicked back in a high pony and her face was tan and glowing.

"What are you doing here?" Lydia asked, noticing the Johnny had yet to breathe since he had first seen her.

"I'm back, for good." She answered. Neither Johnny nor Lydia knew what to say to her. They weren't sure what exactly she was expecting them to do. While Lydia was confused, Johnny was in shock. "I didn't know that you two were like, friends." Sawyer said.

"Well, you miss a lot when you're not around." Lydia told her.

"I guess I had that one coming."

"What, you just up and leave without even saying goodbye and then expect everything to be all fine and dandy when you get back." Johnny spoke, for the first time in several minutes.

"No, of course not. I just didn't think you would be so upset at seeing me."

"Well you thought wrong." Johnny tossed the CD's he had in his hand back on the shelf. "Come on Lydia, let's get out of here." Lydia cast Sawyer one last glance before she followed Johnny out of the store. Sawyer was left standing there, regretting her decision to leave. She should have known that she would have to come home eventually and that running would only fix things temporarily. She had managed to lose the two people she had cared most about, and oddly they looked like they were doing fine without her. They had come together in her absence.

* * *

Davis lay on his bed, happier than ever. Lying next to him was Casey Hawk, arguably the most beautiful girl in school, he had his arms wrapped around her shoulder and she was on her side, kissing up and down his jaw. The two had been officially dating for almost a month and things were going really well.

"We should probably go downstairs soon; my mom is going to be home soon." Davis said as he enjoyed the feel of Casey's lips on his skin.

"Okay, we can go downstairs, if that's what you really want." She kissed him fiercely on the lips, or we could stay here for a tad bit longer." Casey straddled his waist and pulled her sheer blouse over her head, revealing her black and pink lacey bra.

"I'm good right here." Davis flipped them over so he was now on top; Casey let out a delighted squeal and quickly helped Davis out of his shirt. She let her hands roam all over his toned back, while he began kissing her neck, slowly making his way down her body. He placed kisses all over her stomach, and the feel of it was sending her wild. She quickly brought his face back up to her, as her hands began to work on undoing his belt. She had got his belt undone and had just pulled down the zipper of his fly, when they heard a small beep.

"What was that?" Casey asked, Davis hopped off his bed and looked out his window.

"Shit, my parents are home." Both teens scrambled to put the clothes they had shed back on, once they were fully clothed they raced downstairs and jumped on the couch just as Brooke and Julian walked through the door. "Hey mom, dad." Davis said, calmly.

"What are you kids up too?" Brooke asked, as she set a bag of groceries down on the counter.

"We were just watching TV."

"Oh yeah, that show looks really interesting." Julian said nodding to the TV.

"It's really interesting actually." Davis answered.

"Umm, Davis." Casey tapped on his shoulder and pointed towards the TV, which was currently turned off.

"Oh."

"Next time you might want to try turning on the TV," said Brooke "and putting your shirt on right side out." She came up behind him and pulled the tag of his shirt. Casey just laughed and buried her head in her hands. "Casey honey, are you staying for dinner? I'm making lasagna and pie for dessert."

"That sounds great Mrs. Davis, I can't wait." She answered. Davis gave her a silly smile, she just laughed and snuggled in closer to him as her draped his arm around her shoulders.

* * *

Alex sat with Jude in his living room playing the new Call of Duty video game. "Are we all going to hang out at the River Court later?" Alex asked.

"I think so, I'll have to call Lydia and see what she's up too."

"Where has she been lately, I haven't really seen her around?"

"She's with Johnny at the record store, and last week they went to some old book store." Jude stated.

"Is it weird for you that she's spending all this time with another guy? I mean I know it's just Johnny, but still."

"I don't really have a problem with it; it's just weird that's all. I think she just feels bad for him because Sawyer left. Hell, I feel bad for the guy too, but I'm not spending every waking minute with him."

"Have you talked to Sawyer lately?" Alex asked.

"Nope, I was going to call her but I figured if she really wanted to talk she would call me. Besides, I'm sure she has other more pressing issues to deal with than me."

"So you're not mad that she left?"

"Well, I'm not happy about it, she is my friend. But she didn't break my heart, so I'm not all that torn up about it. What about you, you guys were always really close? I mean didn't you have a crush on her for like five years?"

"Shut up, it wasn't five years. It was two, at the max. And about the whole leaving thing, I can see why it would seem like a good idea at the time, but in the long I have a feeling it's just going to make things worse."

* * *

Jenny was in the local Clothes Over Bros searching through the racks when something on the street caught her eye. Well, someone. She moved around the rack and looked through the front window to see the one and only Sawyer Scott making her way down the street towards the record store. Jenny stood frozen in her spot, not exactly sure what to do. Sure, she didn't think Sawyer would be gone for forever, but she wasn't expecting her back so soon, and she thought maybe she would have a little warning to when she did arrive back in town. Thinking this she quickly grabbed her phone from her bag and dialed Alex's number. She wanted to know if he Sawyer was back, and had just neglected to tell her.

"Hey babe." Alex answered.

"Hey, what are you up too?"

"I'm just at home, playing some video games with Jude, are you still out spending all your money?" he asked.

"Yeah, I'm in C Over B right now actually, and I just saw something kind of interesting."

"Like a new skirt?" Alex asked, slightly confused.

"More like Sawyer Scott."

"Wait, are you serious?"

"Yeah, I just saw her and all her blonde hair walking down the street towards the record store. You didn't know she was back in town?"

"No, I had no idea. I haven't talked to her in a while actually. I didn't think she would come back without telling me. I wonder if she's here to stay or just visiting her parents or something."

"I don't know, do you think I should go ask her?" Jenny said, jokingly.

"Oh yeah, I'm sure that conversation would end on a happy note. Look, I'll call her a little later and find out what's going on, thanks for the heads up."

"Any time, I'll see you later tonight, bye."

"Bye babe." Jenny hung up her phone and continued to look at the spot where she has just seen Sawyer. She couldn't help but wonder what was going to come from this sudden reoccurrence. Everything and everyone seemed to be going well and Jenny worried that Sawyer coming back would only cause unwanted drama among the group of friends.

* * *

Johnny, Casey, Davis, Jude, Lydia, Alex and Jenny were all at the River Court tossing the ball around and having a good time. Since state, things had calmed down and now the group was ready to enjoy their carefree summer. The boys had a small game of pick up going, while the girls sat on the bleachers and cheered them on. All seemed so nice and relaxed until they spotted the small figure making its way towards them. The game stopped and everyone watched as she made her way the middle of the court. While Johnny, Jenny, Casey and Lydia weren't too happy to see her Alex, Jude and Davis were glad that their friend was back in town.

"I just wanted to let you all know how sorry I am." Sawyer began, "I know that I've hurt a lot of you with my actions and that was never my intention. You guys are my friends, and despite what you may think I do care about you. And I know leaving wasn't a good way to deal with any of this, I know that now. But I'm back in Tree Hill for good, and I really want to try and fix everything. And I know that things may never go back to the way they were, but I just miss you guys. I don't want to have any animosity towards each other. I also know that saying I'm sorry isn't going to fix things, I need to show you all that I'm sorry for everything I've done, and I plan to do that one way or another. I'm not giving up on any of you," she made eye contact with Johnny, "I just wanted you to know that."

With that Sawyer turned around and made her way back to her car. The group sat there, stunned, no one knew what to say. Lydia cast a glance at Johnny who seemed to be staring into space. Everyone was trying to gauge everyone else's reactions, but feelings were all so out of whack that it was nearly impossible.

Finally, Casey spoke, "Well, this is going to get interesting."

**I hope you all enjoyed the first chapter to my new story. As always don't forget to REVIEW and let me know what you think:)**


	2. We Used to be Friends

**I cannot thank everyone enough who has been saying such wonderful things about this story. Also, one reviewer pointed out that I called Brooke Mrs. Davis when it should have been Mrs. Baker, very sorry about that. It's weird not to think of her as being B. Davis. **

**Anyway****, here is the next chapter, please enjoy!**

**Chapter Two – We Used to Be Friends**

"Knock, knock." Alex stood in Sawyers door way, she spun around from her desk chair and couldn't help the smile that took over her face when she saw him.

"Hi, friend." She rose from her chair and gave Alex a hug. "I missed you."

"I missed you too. How was you, trip or getaway or whatever it was?" Alex asked as he took a seat on her bed.

"It was good; I did a lot of sailing and got to see some really cool places." Alex nodded. "I did miss it here though. You know what they say, there's no place like home. But anyways, what have I missed, I need you to fill me in."

"Well, we won state, obviously. I'm still with Jenny, Casey and Davis are like a real couple now and Lydia and Jude are still together."

"What about Johnny, I saw him and Lydia at the record store together, what's that about?"

"They're kind of friends now. I guess she just made him feel better after you left."

"That's like really random."

"Sounds like someone's jealous." Said Alex, teasingly.

"I am, of both of them actually, Lydia took my boy and Johnny took my best friend."

"So, I take it you're still in love with Johnny?"

"I thought maybe being away from him would make it go away. But I didn't forget about him, I just missed him. I mean not a day went by where I didn't sit and stare at my phone for an hour and debate whether or not to call him."

"And now that you're back, I take it you're going to try and get back together with him?"

"That's the plan. Well, part of it anyway. I have a lot of making up to do if I want my friends back. I think I'm going to start with Lydia; a girl needs her best friends. Although she did seem pretty pissed off."

"Yeah, according to Jude she didn't take the whole you leaving thing very well. She was kind of mad, and that's putting it gently."

"What about you, how come you're not super pissed at me for leaving, or for coming back?"

"I don't like that you left, but I can why you did. I can't that if I was in your position I wouldn't have done the same thing. In the long run it wasn't a very good idea, but you didn't screw me over in the process, besides, I'm the only one you kept in contact with. It's just easier to forgive you when I know that you were going through something really tough."

"But Johnny was going through something tough too, and I just bailed. Wow, I am such a bitch. They have every right to hate me, what I did was terrible."

"Johnny and Lydia are both good people,"

"You don't need to make me feel even worse." Sawyer chimed in.

"You didn't let me finish. Johnny and Lydia are both good people, and good people always forgive the ones they love. They're just going to make you work a little harder because you're family."

"I really hope you're right. How does your girlfriend feel about me being back?"

"I don't know yet, I'm actually going to go see her when I get done here."

"You're going to sit around and talk about me, aren't you?" Sawyer asked, smiling.

"Of course."

* * *

"I feel like all I've been doing lately is shopping." Jenny said, as she took a seat across from Casey at a small table in the food court of the mall. The two girls had spent the morning browsing through all of the stores hunting for good deals.

"I am completely wiped out, I need a drink." Casey said, placing her bags on the chair next to her and removing her wallet from her purse. "It has been a long couple of days, and we needed some retail therapy."

"Please, things have only just started to get stressful. Just wait until Sawyer stars making her rounds, trying to apologize and showing up whenever were hanging out."

"You sound bitter," Casey observed "I thought you didn't care what Sawyer did or didn't do."

"That was before I started dating Alex, they're really good friends. Before I could just avoid her, and then she left and I didn't have to worry about it. Now that she's back she and Alex are going to be hanging out all the time, and he's going to want her to come to parties and things."

"You're thinking about it too much, just relax. She may cause some drama, but it will probably just surround Johnny. And maybe Lydia." Casey said. She pushed her hair back out of her face and took a deep breath before dumping all of her change out onto the table.

"Are you okay?" Jenny asked, noticing that Casey was beginning to look a little green.

"I'm fine; I'm just not feeling very well all of a sudden. I think I just need something to drink." Jenny picked up the change from the table and stood.

"You stay here and watch the bags; I'll go get you a diet coke."

"Thanks." When Jenny was out of sight, Casey placed her head down on the table and tried to will herself to feel better. She counted her breaths and tried to think happy thoughts, but she felt sick to her stomach. At times she was perfectly fine, then all of a sudden the room would start to spin and she would feel nauseous. Jenny sat back down and placed a diet coke and straw in front of Casey. She picked up the cup and began sipping the cold liquid.

"You're right," Jenny said "I'm overreacting, I just need to relax and see how everything plays out, I'm happy and that's all that matters. What about you, how are you and Davis doing?"

"We're great actually. We will have been dating for one month next week. It's weird having a boyfriend and not being able to hook up with anyone else. I mean I'm not saying that I want to, but I've just always had the option."

"You and Davis are adorable. And if anyone can tame you, it would be him and vice versa."

"I guess you're right, I'm really glad we're together." The thought of Davis brought a smile to her face, however the upsetting feeling in her stomach soon took over and her smile disappeared.

* * *

Lydia dragged a 30lbs bag of dog food across the animal shelter floor. Once she made it to the food bowls she began to scoop out the kibble. She hadn't been to the shelter in a while, and thought it was about time she got back to see her beloved animals. Jack was doing well, he had gotten so big. Lydia heard the front door chime and wiped her hands on her KISS tank top and went to see who it was. She stopped in her tracks when she saw Sawyer, standing in front of a cage full of kitten, attempting to pet them through the cage.

"Hey." Said Sawyer.

"Hi."

"I'm sorry to just drop in like this, I know you're working, I just really wanted to talk to you."

"It's okay, it's not like they pay me anyways."

"So I know I've said this before, but I feel really awful about what I did. And if there was anyone who deserved to know what I was planning it was you. You're my best friend and I would really love it if things could just go back to the way they were. When we were dressing up and sneaking into clubs with our fake ID's." Despite herself, Lydia smiled. She didn't want to Miss Sawyer, but the truth is she did. And while others wanted her to stay gone Lydia was glad that she was back.

"Those ID's are shit by the way, we over paid for those by a lot." Sawyer smiled. "I'm glad you're back, and I want to be friends again, I do. But it's just; it's going to take some time." Sawyer nodded.

"How's Johnny?" Sawyer asked quietly.

"He's doing better; he was a mess when you first left. Always getting into trouble in school, smoking and skipping class. He just felt like you didn't care as much as he did. And it was hard, having you there one day and then gone the next."

"I messed up bad. But I am really glad that you two have become friends." Lydia gave Sawyer a doubtful look. "I'm serious, that would make one good thing come out of my leaving. You guys bonding over your hatred for me."

"We don't hate you Sawyer. Or at least I don't, who the hell knows what's going on in Johnny's head right now. But we didn't become friends because I felt bad for him, I needed him just as much as he needed me. It just kind of sucks that our friendship had to come out of something so, shitty." When Sawyer remained silent Lydia went on. "Why did you leave?" Sawyer bowed her head and tried not to cry, however she couldn't stop it and now tears were falling.

"I just, it was too hard. I messed up so bad, and all I wanted to do was pretend it didn't happen so I left. I thought if I left it all behind I would just forget about it and then I really could pretend like it just didn't happen." Sawyer wiped her eyes with the back of her hand.

"Okay, so why did you come back?" Lydia asked, now blinking back her own tears.

"I thought I could forget about it, but all I did was miss it. I missed Johnny and all the guys and the river court, tric, the café, and I missed you. I missed my best friend." Lydia made her way around the counter and wrapped her arms around Sawyer, who tightly hugged back. Lydia couldn't just forgive her like that, but she also knew how much pain her friend was in, and if she could help ease the pain she was going to. When the two girls finally separated, Lydia wiped Sawyers tears away and smiled.

"Don't be sad, okay? Everything's going to be fine, he'll come around."

"You think?"

"Yeah, I really do."

* * *

"I just, I can't even look at her without it hurting. I just think of all the bad things she did and how much she hurt me. I mean how can she fix things when I can't even be in the same room as her?" Johnny asked Davis as the two stood on the river court, shooting hoops.

"If Sawyer is one thing it is persistent. I mean she got you before when she wanted you, who's to say she can't do it again?" Davis asked, as he tossed the ball to Johnny, who took a shot and sent the ball swishing through the net.

"I didn't really know her before. She tricked me, with her long legs and shiny blonde hair. Before I knew what was going on, we were making out and causing a shit load of trouble."

"There must have been something about her that you fell for, and not the legs or hair."

"Even if I did fall for her as a person, she's not that person anymore. She's changed, the girl I fell in love with never would have left me like that."

"So, are you just going to avoid her for the rest of your life? Or are you going to try and be friends or something?"

"I can't be her friend man; I could never just be her friend. There's way too much sexual tension." Davis laughed and took a shot from center court, the ball went off the backboard and in. "I'm just trying to get back to being me, the me I was before we screwed everything up."

"Yeah, we haven't really seen him in a while."

"Well if I have it my way he'll be back, and soon. But this whole reappearing act that Sawyer's doing has really thrown me for a loop. I don't know what to do man, I don't want to be a jerk to her, part of me still cares but an even bigger part of me is still just pissed off."

"These things take time man, you're not just going to forgive her in one day. You have a right to be pissed and she knows that, but you also can't hold a grudge forever, at one point you did love the girl." Johnny took in what Davis was saying, knowing that he was right. He couldn't stay mad forever, but he still wasn't quite ready to just let her back into his life, even if he did love her. Johnny knew that he still cared, but he had to think to himself just how much he still cared.

"Yeah." Johnny said "I guess I did."

* * *

Lydia sat in the dark theatre, sipping her drink through her straw and debating whether or not it was rude to remove her shoes. She had just decided to go for it, when she felt him sit down next to her.

"Here's your popcorn." He said, handing her a bag of extra buttery goodness.

"Thanks." She leaned over and placed a kiss on his cheek before diving into the popcorn. "Was the line very long?"

"Nah, it was alright. Oh hey, there releasing the new Batman movie tomorrow, a bunch of people are lining up at midnight for the screening, did you want to go with me?"

"I can't tomorrow, I'm going to a concert downtown with Johnny." Jude didn't say anything he just nodded his head. "You don't mind that I hang out with Johnny do you?"

"Why would I mind?" Jude asked.

"I don't know, I've never really hung out with him before, and my only other male friend is your brother. I just don't want it to be weird for you; I mean he's just my friend."

"I believe you, and it doesn't bother me that you two are friends."

"Good." Lydia snuggled into Jude's side as the theatre darkened and the movie began. Jude was left to sit and ponder how much of what he just told her was true. He didn't mind her and Johnny being friends, as long as that's what they were. But Johnny wasn't exactly known for being the guy with the highest morals, and he had gotten two other beautiful girls to fall for him before. He wanted to just trust his gut and believe that they were just friends, but he couldn't silence the little voice in the back of his head that told him to watch his back, and his heart.

**Thanks for reading, and PLEASE DON'T FORGET TO REVIEW. I love hearing your opinions and they play into how I write the story, so let me know what you would like to happen, suggests new couples, new drama, anything is welcome. **


	3. Jar of Hearts

**A HUGE thank you to all those who review and follow my story. I hope you enjoy the chapter!**

**Chapter Three – Jar of Hearts**

Lydia, Jenny and Casey all walked into tric, looking hotter than ever. Casey was wearing a dark green mesh yoke sweetheart dress with black patent wedge sandals, Jenny had on a pink ruched sweetheart bodycon dress with nude double strap Mary Janes, and Lydia wore a tight champagne sequin lace dress with brown strappy platform sandals. The girls look good, and they knew it. They made their way to the bar and ordered some drinks before joining Davis, Jude and Johnny at their booth.

"Where's Alex?" Davis asked.

"I don't know, he'd said he would be here, I guess he's just running late." Jenny answered. She pulled out her phone to see if he had texted her, but he hadn't. She was just about to send him a text, when Casey spoke.

"There he is." She pointed to club entrance where Alex had just walked in. Jenny stood up to go meet him but stopped short when she saw who he was with. Right behind him was Sawyer, wearing a metallic asymmetrical dress with satin bow stiletto pumps. "And he's not alone." Casey finished.

"Is he serious?" Jenny asked. She looked at the group for an answer, but they could only shrug their shoulders. Alex and Sawyer made their way through the crowd to the table.

"Hey guys." Alex said. Everyone remained silent, not knowing what to say. The tension was high between everyone, as they all sat silently avoiding eye contact.

"Who needs a drink?" Lydia asked, popping up from her seat.

"Dear god, I do." Said Casey.

"Sawyer, will you help me carry them?" Lydia asked, not waiting for an answer she grabbed Sawyer's arm and pulled her away from the table.

"You didn't tell me she was coming." Jenny said, looking directly at Alex.

"If I told you, you'd have freaked out and probably wouldn't have come."

"Oh and you think just springing her on me is be such a better idea?" When Alex remained silent, Jenny shook her head and walked away from the table towards the bathroom.

"Well," said Alex "I think that went well."

* * *

Things had calmed down, Casey had fetched Jenny out of the bathroom and the two were now dancing with Johnny and Lydia. Alex was trying to keep Sawyer company as everyone seemed to be avoiding her, as they didn't want to get in trouble with their significant others. Jude and Davis stood at the bar and watched their girlfriends dance.

"I didn't know Lydia and Sawyer were on speaking terms." Davis said.

"Yeah, Sawyer went to see her at the shelter the other day, they talked and I think they'll be friends soon enough. Plus, she was just trying to cut the tension. What about Casey, does she care at all that Sawyer's here?"

"She doesn't really care either way. She just doesn't associate with her because she knows it will piss off Jenny."

"I didn't know Jenny was still that mad. I mean she seems to be fine with Johnny." Jude said, pointing to the group on the dance floor which contained both Jenny and Johnny.

"Yeah, weird considering the last time they talked I'm pretty sure she threw a beer bottle at his head." The brothers laughed. "Maybe the fact that they're both so close to Lydia helped out. I thought Jenny would be pissed when she found out they were friends."

"Maybe she just wants to move on, and plus she's gotten used to having Johnny be around. Sawyer popping up is just throwing everybody off balance."

"Have you talked to her yet, since she came back?"

"No, I thought maybe I should just give her some space, let her get her head on straight, you know?" Jude nodded and cast his glance back to the dancing friends. He focused on Lydia and Johnny as he spun her under his arm. He knew it was only a friendly gesture, as she then moved over to Casey and did the same thing, but Jude couldn't help but feel jealous. Johnny was his friend and he had been for a long time, and he hated to admit it, but when it came to Lydia, Jude just didn't trust him.

* * *

Lydia had worked up a sweat dancing, and was now making her way to the bathroom in an attempt to cool off. She grabbed some paper towel and ran in under the sink. She then rang it out and dabbed it on her face and neck, the coolness felt good against her skin. She tossed the paper towel in the trash, gave herself a quick once over in the mirror, she turned on her heels to leave, when she heard a gagging sound. She stood still and listened carefully, and heard the sound of someone throwing up. She made her way back to the stalls and looked underneath to see someone sitting next to one if the toilets. She quietly knocked on the stall door.

"Are you okay?" she asked.

"I'm fine, leave me alone please." The girl's voice was horse, but familiar. Lydia looked under the stall once more and saw some familiar black patent wedges.

"Oh my god, Casey, is that you?"

"Lydia? Oh crap."

"Casey open the door." Lydia waited to hear the click of lock and then pushed the door open. Casey was kneeling on the floor in front of the toilet and had balled up paper towel all around her. Lydia immediately knelt down next to her and pushed her hair out of her face. "Casey, what's going on?"

"I'm sitting on a disgusting bathroom floor puking my guts out, that's what's going on."

"Are you sick?"

"I don't know, I wasn't really feeling well when I went shopping with Jenny the other day but I just figured it was nothing."

"You need to go to the doctors. Come on, I'll go get Jude and we'll take you home." Lydia helped Casey to her feet, and lead her to the sink where she drank from the tap and then Lydia gently wiped her face with a paper towel. "Wait, you're not like, pregnant are you?" Lydia asked, thinking it could be the reason for Casey's sickness. Casey remained silent, just looking at Lydia. "Casey?"

"I don't know, okay? The thought crossed my mind too, but I'm scared to find out." Lydia looked at her friend, standing in club bathroom with her hair a mess and her makeup smudged, she never looked more vulnerable. She wasn't used to seeing her like this. The Casey she knew was feisty and mouthy and a little bit of a bitch, and it that moment Lydia wanted nothing more than to protect her friend.

"Come on, let's get you home."

"You can't tell anyone, okay. Not even Davis, especially not Davis. I don't want to freak him out if this all just turns out to be nothing. Promise me you won't say anything."

"I promise, this stays between you and me." Lydia took Casey's hand and the two girls walked out of the bathroom and into what felt like the real world. It was loud, and crowded and scary and as Casey gripped Lydia's hand, she was glad that she didn't have to face it alone.

* * *

Jenny sat alone in the booth sipping her fruity drink. She was dancing, but then Casey said she had to pee and Lydia got hot and soon she found herself alone on the dance floor with Johnny. Wanting to avoid that awkward situation, they both dispersed and now Jenny was alone. That is until she felt someone slide in next to her.

"I take it you're still mad at me." Jenny didn't answer; she just continued to drink her drink. "Look, I'm sorry okay, I shouldn't have just brought her here without telling you. But I knew that if I did you would never come and I really wanted to dance with you tonight." Alex said.

"Why don't you just go dance with Sawyer?"

"Sawyer's my friend and I care about her. She's going through a lot right now and I was worried, I thought she might enjoy the night out. I didn't want her to be alone."

"What about me? Now I'm alone. I get it she's your friend, but I'm your girlfriend is it so bad that I want to be your first priority sometimes?"

"You are my first priority."

"I'd like to see you put me above your precious Sawyer just once. Do you think maybe you could do that for me?"

"Jenny, come on. I want you, not Sawyer."

"And I'd like to believe that, but your actions suggest otherwise." Jenny looked at Alex, waiting for him to say something, anything that would reassure her of how he felt about her. When he didn't continue Jenny simply shook her head, rose from the table and walked away.

Alex sat there, not sure of what just happened. He wanted Jenny, but he still cared about Sawyer. He needed to show her that she was the only one he wanted, but he also didn't want to be the kind of person that would abandon his friends. He needed to find a way to ease Jenny's worries but also make sure he didn't forget about Sawyer. He wasn't going to lose either of the beautiful blondes; he was determined to have them both in his life.

* * *

Johnny stood outside if tric, smoking a cigarette. He had told Lydia that he had stopped, but sometimes he just needed to give himself a break. When Alex showed up with Sawyer, he didn't know what to do. She looked amazing and as much as Johnny didn't want to admit it, he still wanted her. He hated himself for feeling like that, but unfortunately he couldn't help it.

Sawyer made her way down the metal stairs towards the parking lot, being careful in her high heels. Her plan was to come to tric and attempt to have fun, like old times. But all she managed to do was piss Jenny off and get Alex in trouble. She thought it would be a good idea to just go home before she messed anything else up. She called a taxi, as Alex had driven her, and stood outside of the club kicking rocks and gravel. She heard a noise behind her and turned around to see Johnny flicking a cigarette to the ground and stomping it out. When he looked up, her caught her eye and froze.

"Hi." She stated, cautiously.

"Hi." He replied.

"How are you?"

"Honestly, I've been better."

"Johnny I am so sorry." Sawyer took a step towards him, but Johnny quickly backed up.

"Can we not do this, please? I really don't want to have this conversation."

"But you need to know how bad I feel."

"I can guarantee you I feel worse." Sawyer's heart was breaking as the words came from Johnny's mouth. "You just left me. You left a message on my phone; you couldn't even give me a face to face goodbye. Who does that?"

"I was scared."

"And you don't think I wasn't! God Sawyer, we both fucked up but unlike you I stayed. I faced the problem instead of being a coward and running away from it."

"I shouldn't have left okay, I know that now. If I could go back and change what I did I would."

"But you can't. You made your choice and now you have to live by it."

"I never wanted to hurt you. I just wanted to make all the problems go away and at the time I thought the best way to do that was to leave. I thought time would make things better and that I would forget all of the horrible things I did."

"The fact that you were trying to forget just makes it worse because you left me here. We were both in trouble and you tried to save yourself by taking off. You didn't care what happened to me, as long as you could forget! I didn't forget!" Sawyer was crying full on tears, trying to catch her breath so she could speak.

"I couldn't forget you; I just missed you, everyday." Johnny shook his head, he wanted to tell her that he missed her too, but he couldn't. He couldn't let his guard down for this girl when all she'd ever done was hurt him. He wanted her to feel the pain that he felt when she left; he wanted her to feel the sadness and the loss. But as he looked at her crying, he knew he wasn't ready to let her go, but he also wasn't ready take her back.

"Let's just steer clear of each other, because I can't do this again." Johnny took off into the night and Sawyer was left to stand their alone crying. Eventually she slid to the ground and placed her head in her hands. Her tears were heavy and she was having trouble breathing. It wasn't until she felt a pair of arms wrap around her that she looked up. He held out his hand to her and once she took it he pulled her to her feet. He pushed all of her hair out of her face and placed a small kiss on her forehead. He put his arm around her waist and lead her through the parking lot and to his car. He opened the door for her, helped her climb in and the fastened her seatbelt. He climbed into the driver's side and started the car; before he began to drive she spoke.

"I love you Davis."

**Thankyou for reading and don'e forget to REVIEW!**


	4. Fleeting Trust

**Okay guys, here's the next chapter, please enjoy!**

**Chapter Four – Fleeting Trust**

"I just hate the fact that she can just waltz in here after all this time, and everyone is all 'oh poor Sawyer, don't be mean to Sawyer' it makes me sick."

"You're telling me, Davis stiffed me on a ride home last night because he has to personally escort Sawyer to her front door. I had to call a taxi, that was a piss off." Casey added the last part in an effort to hide the fact the Lydia and Jude had to take her home sick. She and Jenny were enjoying a morning at the beach, trying to relax and forget about the drama the night before, it wasn't going that well.

"I just don't get why all the guys have to be so nice to her. I mean she screwed over their friend, and two of their girlfriends. But no, she just did what she thought was best." Sawyer said, in a mimicking tone. "I mean, I don't even think I would be so pissed off if Alex didn't have to defend her all the time. He makes it seem like she's more important than me."

"Um hello! I got ditched at tric last night. I had to stand outside for like twenty minutes while I waited for a taxi." She felt bad about lying, but she knew she had too.

"What is it about her that everyone seems to love so much?"

"I don't think it's everyone. It seems that she draws in more male friends than females." Casey stated.

"She's like a siren, a boyfriend snatching siren. I mean have you noticed that she likes to get all close to whoever I seem to be dating?"

"She's like a kid who wants whatever someone else has, and then as soon as she gets it, she couldn't care less about it. She seemed like she was on better terms with Lydia, how do you feel about that?" Casey asked.

"Lydia can be friends with whoever she wants, unless she screws me over personally, I have no problem with her being Sawyers friend, or Johnny's for that matter." Jenny said as she took a sip from her water bottle.

"Yeah, how freaking weird was that? Lydia and Johnny was not a friendship I saw coming." Jenny shrugged.

"They're a lot more alike than people think."

"Are you saying Lydia would pull a Johnny and give into temptation and cheat on her Baker boyfriend?"

"No, they're not similar in that way. They're both a little more impulsive than the rest of us."

"Impulsive how?"

"Well, Johnny impulsively hooked up with Sawyer and Lydia impulsively kicked your ass in practice one day."

"Hey! She did not kick my ass; I'd say it was a draw."

"Whatever, the point is their not afraid to take risks and their response time is a lot quicker. Not to mention Johnny could talk just about any girl into wanting to hang out with him. What about you, how are you feeling?" Jenny asked, remembering how Casey felt sick at the mall.

"I'm fine; I think it was just like a 24 hour thing." Casey hadn't told Jenny, or anyone about the bathroom at tric. She didn't want people to start freaking out until she knew the circumstances were appropriate.

* * *

Jude was driving home from Lydia's house when he saw Johnny shooting hoops at the river court. He pulled up to the court and hopped out, joining Johnny.

"Hey man, come to play a little game of one on one?" Johnny asked, taking a jump shot.

"Not exactly."

"What's up man?" Johnny asked, wondering what it was that had Jude acting so strange.

"How was the concert with Lydia the other night?" Asked Jude, as he took a step closer to Johnny.

"It was great, your girls got good taste in music."

"Yeah, I know she does." Johnny gave Jude a weird look, it wasn't like him to be acting like this, something had to be up.

"What's going on Jude?"

"Nothing, I just want to know exactly what it is that you're doing with _my girl."_

"Lydia and I are friends man, nothing more. Jude, you and I are friends you know I would never do that to you."

"I'm sure you would have said the same thing to Jenny is she'd asked you about Sawyer."

"Go to hell."

"If you so much as look at her the wrong way I'll break you."

"Look, I don't know what the hell hasn't gotten into you, but figure your shit out man. She's my friend and you're supposed to be my friend too. So come talk to me when you're not acting like such an ass hole." Johnny went back to shooting the ball, and Jude got back into the jeep. His tires squealed as he pulled away from the court. He gripped the wheel tightly as he drove; he was pissed off at Johnny, but mostly at himself. He knew they were just friends and that he shouldn't have said anything, but he just didn't want something to happen between Johnny and Lydia and have to wonder if he could have prevented it by just saying something. Now he would never have to wonder about that, but he would have to wonder if he had just ruined his friendship with Johnny.

* * *

Sawyer sat next to Alex at the bar in the café. She sipped on her diet coke and picked the brownie on her plate.

"What's wrong?" Alex asked.

"What makes you think something's wrong?"

"You haven't even taken a bite out of your brownie, and I know how much you like the brownies here."

"I just, I feel like you guys were better off without me."

"Sawyer,"

"It's true all I've done is cause trouble since I've shown up. I've gotten you in trouble with Jenny and I'm sure Casey is pissed that Davis took me home last night, and Johnny, god Johnny is a mess because of me. I remember when he was so cocky and he had the world at his feet, and now…"

"Look, while those things may be true, look at you and Lydia. She was super pissed off at you, but you talked it out and you're on your way to becoming friends again."

"I guess."

"Besides, it's not like you can just pack up and leave again." Alex said, smiling. Sawyer gave him her best evil eye, picked up her brownie, took a large bite and then showed the chewed contents to Alex. "Gah, that's disgusting." Sawyer swallowed her food before speaking.

"Still, Jenny won't even talk to you because of me."

"I will handle Jenny okay. She can't stay mad forever."

"Maybe I should just stay away from you, at least until things settle down."

"What, no! Sawyer, you are my friend and I'm not going to abandon you just because Jenny isn't exactly your biggest fan right now."

"That's an understatement."

"One day, when she's had a chance to cool down, she's going to see what a great person you are, and you're going to see what a great person she is."

"You are very optimistic, you know that?" Alex smiled.

"With friends like you I have to be."

* * *

Lydia pulled up to the Baker house in her new black convertible PT Cruiser. She had begged and begged and finally her parents caved and bought her the car. She had just gotten in and was overly excited to show Jude. Lydia knocked on the front door once before letting herself in. Davis was seated in the kitchen eating a bowl of cereal.

"Nice car." He said, mouth full of milk and Froot Loops.

"You like it?" She asked, as she took a seat next to him at the counter.

"I like it for you."

"What does that mean?"

"It's a chick car. I doubt Jude will even want to ride next to you, let alone ever drive the thing."

"Well he doesn't have to drive it. It's all mine."

"Whatever you say." Lydia reached over and plucked Davis's spoon right out of his hand. She then helped herself to a large spoonful of his cereal.

"How's your girlfriend?" She asked.

"Casey's fine, why?" Lydia didn't mean for her question to sound suspicious and now that she thought about it she probably should have just stayed quiet. She wouldn't normally ask how Casey was doing.

"I was just wondering, I haven't talked to her in a while, that's all."

"So, are you going to show me this new ride or what?" He asked, placing his bowl in the kitchen sink. Lydia handed him her keys.

"Don't take it off the property; I'm going to get your brother." Davis took off out the front door and Lydia began making her way towards Jude's room. She got to the bottom of the stairs when her phone rang. Pulling it out and looking at the caller ID she saw it was Johnny.

"Hey, Johnny."

"Hey, what are you up too?"

"I'm just over at Jude's showing him my new ride. I'll have to swing by your place when I'm done, let you check it out."

"I don't know if that's such a good idea." He stated.

"What are you talking about, why wouldn't it be a good idea?"

"I talked to Jude today, and I'm not sure he's all that cool with us hanging out."

"That's crazy, I asked him the other day if he cared and he said no."

"Well, I guess he changed his mind."

"Maybe you just misunderstood him." Lydia said, trying to come up with a plausible explanation.

"I'm pretty sure there's only one way to interpret 'if you even look at her the wrong way I'll break you'." Lydia gasped.

"He did not say that."

"Look Lydia, I don't want to cause problems between you and Jude. Despite what he thinks you are my friend and I don't want this to put any strain on your relationship. So maybe we should just take a break from hanging out."

"No! I am not taking a break; in fact I'm coming over right now to show you my new car."

"Lydia…"

"No arguments." Lydia snapped her phone shut and walked right out the front door. Who did Jude think was, threatening Johnny over their friendship, that he had said he was okay with. She approached her car and Davis tossed her the keys.

"Where's the boyfriend?" he asked.

"Don't know, don't care." She got into her car, started the engine and took off down the street towards her friend's house.

**DON'T FORGET TO REVIEW!**


	5. Breakeven

**Hello everybody. Here is the latest chapter of my story, please enjoy!**

**Chapter Five – Breakeven**

Jenny sat on her bed already dressed in her moonlight owl pajama's, with her hair in a messy bun on the top of her head. It was a little early to be going to bed, but she had had a long couple of days and just wanted to relax. She placed her head on her pillow and closed her eyes. Not one minute later she heard her phone beep, she knew she should have turned it off. She picked up her phone, it was a text from Alex, _come outside. _Jenny debated whether or not to go, she was still a bit mad but she thought maybe it was time she heard him out. She made her way outside and saw Alex sitting alone on her porch steps. As soon as she saw him all her anger faded away. His shoulders were slumped and he was resting his head in his hands. She sat down next to him and began rubbing his back. He looked up, surprised.

"Hey," she said quietly.

"Hi." She leaned in close to him and gave him a small kiss. "I take it you're not mad anymore." She smiled and shook her head.

"No, I'm not mad. I'm sorry I was so hard on you. I know it can't be easy trying to balance me and Sawyer and I shouldn't have made things harder by being such a bitch."

"I get why you were acting the way you were, and I should have paid more attention to your feelings and not just Sawyers." He gripped her hand and entwined their fingers before placing a small kiss on the back of her hand.

"Things were just easier when she wasn't here, and I liked easy." She said.

"I know, I liked it too. But Sawyer is probably my best friend, and she's not going anywhere and I need you to be okay with that."

"I get it, and I'm sorry that I put you in a weird position. I suppose that I also can't hate her forever, maybe it's time to make amends." A smile spread across Alex's face.

"Really?"

"Yes, really. For you, I want you to be happy and having your girlfriend pitted against your best friend probably isn't the best way to do that."

"Do you have any idea how amazing you are?"

"Oh, you don't have to tell me how awesome I am, believe me I already know. You know, my dad is out of town for the night."

"Really?"

"Yeah, he's doing some music performing thing in Raleigh. Do you maybe want to come up to my room?"

"Whatever would we do in your room this late at night?" Alex asked, smiling.

"I'm sure we can think of something."

* * *

Casey lay stretched out on the Baker's couch, flipping through the channels on the TV looking for something good to watch.

"Hey, you should call Lydia." Davis said as he climbed over the back of the couch and lifted Casey's legs and placed them on his lap.

"Why?"

"I was talking to her the other day and she asked me how you were, said she hadn't talked to you in a while."

"Yeah, I'll call her tonight." She said trying to brush the whole thing off. Casey felt bad that she hadn't told Davis what was going on. If there was one person who would make her feel better it would be him. She had convinced herself that telling him would be selfish and that she shouldn't worry him in order to make herself feel better. So she stayed there and flipped through the channels while Davis unconsciously ran his fingers over her jean clad legs. She was in a complicated situation, but somehow right now it seemed that facing reality would be too hard and she was content with the way her life was now. She wasn't ready to be a mom. Maternal instincts were in some people, but not her. She could barely keep a fish alive she couldn't imagine how she would ever raise a baby. She looked at Davis as she thought this. He would make an amazing father one day. He would be his child's hero, that she was sure of.

"Casey!" Davis' voice snapped her out of her thoughts.

"What?" she asked.

"Quit staring at me, you're freaking me out." She simply laughed and shook her head before returning her attention to the TV.

* * *

"So what, you're avoiding me now?" Lydia looked up from her book and saw Jude standing in her bedroom doorway, with a blank look on his face.

"Who said I was avoiding you?"

"Well you bailed on showing me your new car and you haven't returned any of my texts or calls."

"Well, I would tell you why, but I wouldn't want you to have to break somebody."

"So that's what this is about, Johnny told you what I said to him."

"Of course he told me, there had to be a reason he didn't think we should hang out anymore and that reason happened to be you. I thought you said you were fine with Johnny and I being friends."

"I thought I was, but I guess I'm not."

"So that's it then. You just want me to stop hanging out with Johnny and everything will go back to normal?" She asked, now standing.

"Well that would fix a lot of our problems."

"Johnny is not the problem, we are the problem. You don't trust me."

"I do to trust you; I would just feel better if you weren't always hanging around him."

"Johnny and I are just friends, and until either of us gives you a reason to believe otherwise I'm not going to stop hanging out with him."

"So you're choosing him over me." Lydia's eyes began to water as she realized where this conversation was heading.

"I shouldn't have to choose, I want you both."

"Yeah well you can't always get what you want." Jude said, in a much quieter voice than before.

"Then I guess I'm not getting you."

"I guess not." Jude took a few quick steps towards Lydia; he brought her head to his mouth and placed a small kiss on her forehead. Lydia was now sobbing as Jude left; she heard his car start and listened until it took off down the road. She sat on her bed for a few moments, head in her hands before she stood up and made her way downstairs to the kitchen where her mother was making dinner.

"Mom." Haley turned around and saw her daughters tear streaked face and knew something was wrong.

"Honey, what happened?" she asked. Lydia simply walked to her mother and placed her head in her shoulder. Haley stroked her hair and held her daughter tight, trying to let her know that she would be okay.

* * *

Jenny braced herself as she made her way up the front walk way and rang the door bell. She nervously pulled on her high waisted floral skirt and waited. A moment later the door opened.

"Jenny, what are you doing here?"

"Hey Sawyer, Umm I was wondering if we could talk?"

"Sure." Sawyer gestured to the bench she had on her porch and the two girls sat side by side. "So, what's up?"

"Okay, so I know that you and I have had our differences, but we also have a lot of similarities. One of those being Alex. I don't want to have to keep putting him in the middle of us and make him tip toe around one of us when he is with the other."

"What exactly are you getting at here?"

"I think you and I should be friends, or at least attempt to be friends."

"You really like him don't you?" Sawyer asked.

"Yeah, and besides we don't even really know each other so I thought maybe we could put in a effort to hang out more and just see where it goes."

"Honestly, I would really like that."

"Great, I was thinking maybe we could hang out tomorrow, maybe have lunch or something?"

"That sounds perfect." Both girls smiled and hoped that this new arrangement would work. They had never really spent time together and neither girl knew if they would get along or if they would hate every minute of it. But they were both willing to try because they both cared about Alex, they just really wanted to make things better, but couldn't help fearing that they might make things worse.

* * *

Johnny entered his house, grabbed a drink and headed for his room. He was looking forward to just lying down and relaxing, there had been a lot of drama lately and he was excited to just do nothing. He pushed open the door to his bedroom and was startled to see the small brunette already occupying his bed. She looked quite disheveled in her blue lace dress, with her make-up smudged and her hair askew. She sat up and leaned against his headboard. Without a word he set his drink down on his dresser and climbed in next to her, placing an arm around her shoulder. She nestled her head into his shoulder and he grasped her hand with his own.

"Jude and I broke up." Lydia said through her sniffling.

"I'm still in love with Sawyer." Johnny replied. Lydia let out small laugh before Johnny joined in. "God, we are quite the pair aren't we?"

"We're a mess." She said, looking up at him. He wiped the tears from under her eyes. The once comical moment now turned somber. "What are we going to do now?"

"I don't know, but we'll do it together, okay?" She nodded.

"Okay." He placed a small kiss on her forehead and pulled her closer as she shut her eyes. It was this moment that he realized just how much he loved this girl. The two had grown immensely close and she had become his best friend, the one person that he could and did tell every and anything to. He wanted to protect her from all the bad in the world at any cost. As he lay next to her he wished that he could just freeze this moment in time so that he could stay in it a little longer.

**Thank you for reading. I know some of you may not have liked this chapter but I thought it was needed. Please REVIEW and let me know what your thoughts are.**


	6. The One That Got Away

**Chapter Six – The One That Got Away**

"Here you go, one double chocolate brownie with whip cream and extra fudge." Sawyer said as she placed the over the top dessert in front of Lydia. Sawyer, along with Casey and Jenny were at the café attempting to cheer Lydia up after her break up with Jude.

"You guys, 10,000 calories are not going to make me feel better, only bloated."

"My mother always said chocolate was the only cure for a broken heart." Sawyer said.

"Really, mine always told me it was sex with a stranger." Casey chimed in, "and a total hottie just walked in." She eyed the preppy looking guy up and down. Lydia didn't even bother to give him a glance; she was too busy thinking about Jude.

"Wow," said Jenny, rolling her eyes. "Lydia, you are going to be fine, okay? Trust me it hurts right now and it will for a while, but one day you'll wake up and that weight that's on your heart will be a little lighter and then one day it will just be gone. After the whole thing with Johnny, I thought the world was ending, but hey, look at me now."

"I guess." Lydia said glumly. "I just thought that Jude and I were different, you know? He was like my best friend and I was sure that nothing could come between us. I mean it was me and Jude."

"I know what you mean, I'm pretty sure everyone thought that Jude Baker and Lydia Scott would end up together and who's to say you won't." Jenny said.

"She's right." Casey said, "maybe you guys just need to take some time apart to grow separately and then in time you'll be right for each other again."

"It all starts with a smile." Sawyer said, nudging Lydia with her shoulder. Lydia used her finger and scooped up some whip cream off her brownie and placed it in her mouth. The rest of the girls all followed suit and let out satisfied sighs all at the same time. It was then, that Lydia was finally able to crack a smile. She was still heartbroken, but being around all her friends made her feel better. She couldn't remember when all four of them had hung out together and was pleasantly surprised that they were all able to get along so well. She was overwhelmed with happiness that she had so many amazing people in her life, and it was a good thing because if she expected to get over Jude Baker, she was going to need all the friends she could get.

* * *

Davis and Alex sat on the Baker's living room floor playing video games. "So how's the thing with Sawyer and Jenny going." Davis asked.

"They're at the café right now; Jenny said something about Lydia and chocolate. I haven't gotten a phone call for bail money yet, so I assume it's going okay."

"I guess the chocolate thing would be because of the break up?" Alex nodded. "That really sucks, just as we were becoming a group again, Jude and Lydia had to go break up."

"Well, I guess we can't win them all. Do you think that Lydia and Jude will go back to being friends?" Alex asked.

"I don't know man. It would be awesome if they did, but it just wouldn't be the same as before. And I'm not sure that there was ever a time that Lydia wasn't in love with him, so this will be new for her. I think when you have something so strong with someone and you lose it, it's not easy to be around them."

"Please don't tell me we're going to have another Johnny/Sawyer thing going on. Awkward avoidance, storming out of clubs,"

"Don't forget emotional breakdowns in the middle if the night." Davis reminded him.

"Oh yeah, how could I forget. We know Lydia can get a little crazy when she's upset, but how's Jude going to handle this?"

"Jude's always been quieter when he's upset. He's not going to be sharing his feelings with anyone anytime soon. Hopefully they can find a way to be civil towards each other, the last thing we need is more drama."

"Amen to that."

* * *

"Come on, you guys know that I could win survivor. All you have to do is tell people what they want to hear, not to mention how good I would look running in all those challenges." Casey said.

"The scary thing is, I could see that happening." Sawyer laughed. The girls were still laughing when they were interrupted by the ear piercing fire alarm. They all looked to the kitchen and saw that it was full of smoke. They all quickly got to their feet and ran to kitchen. The grill had erupted in flames and both the chef and the waitress were trapped.

"Are you okay?" Jenny yelled.

"We're fine," the waitress answered, "but we can't get through all the flames."

"Just hang on!" Casey ran to the front of the café, which was now too full of smoke. Her eyes were beginning to water and she was coughing loudly. However, she remained focused as she grabbed the fire extinguisher off the wall. She felt a hand on her shoulder and turned to find Lydia gesturing for the extinguisher.

"Get out of here!" Lydia yelled over the alarm.

"I can't just leave you guys."

"It might not be just you." Lydia said, looking at Casey's stomach. It was at that moment that Casey realized just how dangerous the situation may be to her if she really wasn't pregnant. She still wasn't sure if she was, but she didn't want to risk it, and judging from the look on Lydia's face neither was she. Reluctantly, Casey handed the extinguisher over.

"Be careful!" She yelled, before exiting the café, and calling for help.

Lydia ran back to the kitchen where both Jenny and Sawyer were now coughing hysterically. Lydia's eyes were filled with tears and she was having trouble seeing. She felt the extinguisher being pulled from her grasp and noticed Sawyer being to spray the kitchen. Sawyer aimed at the fire and the chef and waitress were able to quickly run by before the flames emerged again.

"Where's Casey?" Jenny half yelled and half coughed.

"She went to get help." Lydia answered, "Let's get out of here!" They all made their way to the front doors, however the smoke was so heavy Lydia couldn't see where she was going. She felt her foot catch on something and the next thing she knew she was on the ground. She began crawling in the direction she thought was the front door, and was becoming increasingly hot.

Sawyer burst through the front doors and gasped at the fresh air. She dropped to her knees and wiped the tears from her eyes. "Is everyone okay?" she asked. She heard a round of yes's or I'm fine, but one distinct voice was missing. "Lydia?" she asked, turning back towards the café. "Oh my god." Without thinking Sawyer darted back through into the café. "LYDIA!" She screamed.

"SAWYER!"

"Where are you?"

"I'm over here."

"Keep talking, I'll come to you."

"Sawyer, I can't breathe and all I see is smoke." Sawyer soon located Lydia from the sound of her voice and helped her to her feet. She then lead them to the door and outside into the fresh air. Lydia immediately doubled over and continued to cough hazardously.

"Are you guys okay?" Casey asked, running up to her friends. They both nodded as sever fire trucks pulled up in front of the café and the fire fighters began spraying it with the hose. Several paramedics helped the girls as well as the chef and waitress to an ambulance where they were given some much needed oxygen.

* * *

Johnny pulled his car up to the large house with the red door. He briskly walked up the front steps and knocked on the door. He was a man on a mission. A moment later the door opened and none other than Jude Baker was on the other side.

"Just the man I wanted to see." Johnny stated.

"What do you want man?" Jude asked, not in the mood for another fight.

"I came here to tell you the truth about Lydia and I. I do love her, but I'm not in love with her. There was never a romantic moment between us, and I know that you don't trust me but I'm here to tell you that I would never make a move on Lydia. Right now she's all I have and I would never risk that." Jude took a moment to process this information.

"Look man, I appreciate you telling me this, but it's not going to fix Lydia and I. The damage is done, we both messed and I don't see a way to fix this."

"Have you even tried?" Before Jude could answer, Johnny's phone began to ring. Reluctantly he pulled it out and answered it. "Hello?"

"Johnny man, it's Davis. You have to get down to the café right now."

"Why, what's going on?"

"There was a fire, it was bad and all the girls were inside."

"Oh my god, are they okay?"

"I don't know, Alex and I are on our way there now."

"Okay, I'll be right there." He snapped his phone shut and looked up at Jude. "We've got to go."

"What the hell's going on?" Jude asked.

* * *

Davis jumped out of his car and scanned the large crowd of people for that fire red hair. He quickly located her standing next to an ambulance, with her phone pressed to her ear. Once she saw Davis she quickly snapped the phone shut and ran into his arms. He hugged her tightly and stroked her hair. "Are you okay?" he asked, as he held her face between his hands. She nodded.

"I'm fine; I wasn't in there as long as everyone else, Lydia sent me out to get help."

"Remind me to thank her."'

* * *

Once Jenny saw the jeep she began running. As soon as Alex stepped out of the passenger seat she was already in his arms. Before he could say anything she kissed him hard on the mouth, wrapping her arms around his shoulders.

"I take it you're okay?" Alex said, laughing with relief at his girlfriend.

"I am now."

* * *

Johnny and Jude both stepped out of the car at the same time and saw the girls at the same time. Sitting side by side on the back of an ambulance was Lydia and Sawyer. Instead of an emotional reunion this one was tense. No one made a move they all simply locked eyes and remained where they were. Johnny's first instinct was to run towards Lydia, but as soon as he saw Sawyer he froze. She, like Lydia was covered in black soot and was red in the face. All he wanted to do was hold her and kiss her, he never wanted to have to think about losing her again.

Lydia saw the way Sawyer looked at Johnny, and the way he hesitated to approach them. "Go." She said. Sawyer turned to her.

"What?"

"Go to him, he loves you." Sawyer gave Lydia's hand a squeeze and rose from her spot; she slowly made her way to Johnny, who without a word opened his arms to her. She wrapped her arms around his waist and placed her head on his chest. He wrapped his arms around her shoulders and squeezed her tight. Neither of them said a word they just embraced each other and enjoyed the fact that they could finally hold each other.

Jude's heart ached when he saw Lydia. She looked so sad and small sitting on the back of the ambulance. The two made eye contact but they both remained still. When Jude made no movements Lydia finally looked away. She cast her eyes to the ground sand only looked up when she heard her father calling her. Jude watched as she embraced each member of her family, how her father stroked her hair and her mother wiped the black from her face. She wasn't his anymore, realizing this he turned around and began his walk home.

**This chapter had some much needed drama, let me know what you think with a REVIEW!**


	7. Life After You

**So here is the next chapter of my story, it's a little shorter than the other chapters, but I hope you all enjoy it.**

**Chapter Seven – Life After You**

Sawyer used her finger to trace shapes over Johnny's arm. She was lying next to him in his bed, just enjoying being close to him again.

"You have no idea how much I've missed this." Sawyer said, snuggling closer to him.

"I think I have some idea. I was so worried about you when Davis told me what happened. You were the first thing that flashed through my mind." He placed a finger under her chin and brought her mouth to his. He missed her kiss, her touch, her sent. He missed everything about her. She rolled on top of him and placed her body flesh against his. He gripped her hips tightly as she grinded against him.

"God, I want you so badly." She managed to get out between kisses. She began undoing the buttons on his shirt. However, Johnny quickly gripped her hands stopping her. She sat up and let out a disappointed whine.

"Look, I want you too okay? You have no idea how much, but with everything that we've been through I don't think it's a good idea to just dive right back in."

"What do you mean, do you want to like, start over?"

"Not entirely, I just think that we should do the things that we couldn't the first time around."

"Like what?" Sawyer asked.

"Hold hands, go out on dates, and be together in public. We don't have to go back to secret make out sessions in public bathrooms, we can finally be together, and I think we should do this the right way."

"So I'll be able to tell people that you're my boyfriend?"

"Yup."

"And I can paint your jersey number on my face during your games?"

"Yup." The two kids smiled at each other, excited that they were finally going to have the chance to actually be together without having to hide their relationship from everyone that they love.

* * *

Casey and Lydia sat in the hard plastic chairs at the Raleigh clinic. Casey had become tired of wondering and needed to once and for all if she was truly pregnant. Not trusting the home tests, she and Lydia had driven to the clinic so that she could get a blood test. They went to the clinic in Raleigh so that they wouldn't run into anyone they knew in Tree Hill. Casey filled out some papers and handed them to the lady at the front desk before sitting down next to Lydia and waiting.

"Being preggers is so not how I pictured senior year." Casey said, slouching in her seat.

"Hey, you don't know that you are pregnant. I would find out for sure before you start freaking out, all this worrying could be for nothing." Lydia offered. Casey dramatically slammed her head against the wall behind her.

"I'm so screwed!"

"Casey, you need to calm down. Pregnant or not, everything is going to be okay. I'm here for you no matter what, and more importantly you have Davis. Brave, caring, courageous Davis. You're not in this alone." Casey reached out and grasped Lydia's hand.

"I know you're right, I just can't help thinking about how much this is going to mess everything up. Things were finally going right, Davis and I are happy and I just don't want anything to change that."

"Davis loves you, and nothing is going to change that." Casey slowly nodded and placed her head on Lydia's shoulder.

"Will you come in with me, when they do the test?" She asked.

"Of course I will."

"Thanks."

"Sawyer Scott!" Lydia looked up at the sound of the nurse calling her friends name. She turned to Casey and gave her a confused look.

"What, you didn't think I was going to use my real name did you?" Casey asked, rising from her seat. Lydia smiled and shook her head.

"You are unbelievable." She said, smiling. Casey only shrugged.

"You coming or what?"

* * *

Jenny and Sawyer sat across from each other at a large picnic table. The girls were at the Scott's house and they were currently planning a pool party.

"My folks are going to visit my grandma Karen this weekend, so we can have the party here." Sawyer said.

"Great, I'll ask Alex if he and Davis can get the beer so all we have to do is come up with a guest list." Jenny replied. The two girls had been getting along really well recently. "We have to invite both Jude and Lydia, but do we tell them that the other one is coming?"

"Good question. If they both assume that the other one is coming, than neither of them will show." Sawyer said.

"So maybe we tell them that the other one isn't coming."

"I guess that's really our only option. Although I doubt they're going to talk anyway, but we can worry about that later. What are we going to do for food?"

"We could have a campfire and roast hotdogs and hamburgers." Jenny offered.

"Okay, let's just hope it doesn't turn out like the last bonfire we had."

"Oh, you mean the one where I threw a beer bottle at Johnny's head?" Jenny asked, laughing.

"That would be the one." When the girl's laugher died they were left with somewhat of an awkward silence. The last campfire was also the one where Sawyer had admitted that she had been hooking up with Jenny's boyfriend, and now here they were planning a pool party together.

"I'm glad you and Johnny can finally be together." Jenny said, breaking the silence. "I mean, it was weird at first, it still is a little but I see the way that he looks at you, he never looked at me like that."

"Jenny."

"I know he loved me, but he is crazy about you. Despite some of the things that I've said, I do want him to be happy I want both of you to be happy."

"Thanks, that really means a lot coming from you."

"If you tell Johnny I said any of this, I'll kill you." Jenny said, smiling.

* * *

Davis walked into his kitchen and noticed a very quiet Jude sitting in the living room, aimlessly flipping though different TV channels. Davis grabbed a water bottle from the fridge and made his way to the living room and took a seat next to his brother.

"How's Casey?" Jude asked, not taking attention away from the TV.

"She's good, still a little shaken up, but it's nothing she won't get over." Jude only nodded on response. "Mom's really looking forward to redesigning the café. It's all she's been talking about." Again, Jude just nodded. "Talk to her." Davis said. Jude finally turned the TV off and sighed.

"I can't, I'm more than glad that she's okay, but it's just still too weird with the way that we left things."

"But under the circumstances, I think it would be okay if you just gave her a call."

"We had our chance to talk and neither of us took it. I saw her sitting there on the back of the ambulance, and I didn't do anything, she looked right at me and nobody moved."

"She was probably still in shock, you both were." Davis offered.

"That's not it okay! She didn't want to come to me and part of me didn't want to go to her."

"What do you mean?"

"She broke my heart man, and I broke hers. I was crazy worried about her and all I wanted was for her to be safe, but when I look at her I still see the girl that broke my heart, and I'm not sure how long it's going to take before that goes away, or if it will ever go away."

"Okay, I get it but I just want you to remember that this isn't just any girl that broke your heart, this is Lydia Scott and she was your best friend for sixteen years, and she isn't going to disappear anytime soon, you're going to have to see her all the time."

"Believe me, I know and I don't want things to be awkward, and I'm going to try and be civil but I think friends is still out of the question right now."

**Don't forget to REVIEW and let me know what you think!**


	8. I'm in Love with a Girl

**Chapter Eight – I'm in Love with a Girl**

Lydia cranked up the volume on her IPod and grabbed the large broom from the back room. She was back at the shelter today; she hadn't done any volunteering lately and was missing all the animals. With everything going on with her and Jude and then the fire it was nice to get back to something so familiar, something that she loved very much. Lydia flicked through a couple songs before settling on _Firework _by_ Katy Perry._ She began sweeping the back room, while humming to herself Lydia began bobbing her head and moving to the music. "Baby you're a firework, come on show 'em what you're worth." Lydia began singing quietly to herself. She continued singing and her volume was gradually increasing, "You just gotta ignite the light and let it shine, just own the night like the 4th of July. Baby you're a firework come on show 'em what you're with, make 'em go ah, ah, ah, as you shoot across the sky, ay, ay!" Lydia was enjoying herself, and happily dancing and singing, when she heard a crash coming from the front room. She quickly ripped her headphones out of her ears and made her way to the front room. She stood behind the large secretary desk and saw someone crawling around the floor, picking up pens that were once in a holder next to the phone. She loudly cleared her throat and they quickly stood.

The person who stood in front of her way a boy, who looked about her age, with shoulder length blonde hair. He was wearing torn up blue jeans, an improperly buttoned flannel shirt and he had a skateboard hanging from his finger tips. "Was that you?" he asked, looking directly at Lydia and smiling. Lydia could feel her face beginning to turn red.

"Can I help you with something?" she asked.

"Seriously, that was you? Man for such a hot chick you can't sing for shit." He said laughing. Lydia gave him her best glare, as she wasn't in the mood to deal with a smart ass skater.

"Is there a reason that you're here, or did you just come to knock shit over?" The guy stepped to the side to reveal a much younger blonde boy standing behind him; Lydia hadn't even noticed that he was there.

"Little bro wants a dog." While the younger boy looked almost identical his brother, his demeanor was completely different. His hands were clasped together and his eyes were focused on the ground. Lydia immediately felt for this boy, it couldn't be easy having a big brother who was a douche. She walked around the desk and knelt in front of the boy, "what's your name?"She asked him.

"Trip." He said quietly.

"And I'm Jay", his brother chimed in. Lydia rolled her eyes.

"Good for you." She held her hand out Trip, "why don't we go take a look at the dogs." Trip took her hand and she led him into the back room where they kept the dogs. "Do you want a big dog, or a small dog?" she asked. Trip looked up at Jay, who in turn riffled the boy's hair.

"Big." He said. Lydia pointed him towards the section of the room where they kept the large dogs.

"Pick whatever one you want." She told him. He cautiously walked forward and began looking in all the different cages.

"So what was that crap that you were singing anyway?" Jay asked. Lydia ignored his question.

"So I take it that you have all the proper supplies you'll need in order to take care of the dog? Food, collar, leash, toys, and you'll have to bring it back in two weeks for a checkup."

"How about you come and visit it at my place and you can give us both a physical."

"I'm not a doctor, just a volunteer."

"You don't need to be a doctor to give the kind of physical I'm looking for."

"You are such a son of a …"

"This one!" Trip interrupted.

Lydia had Jay fill out all of the adoption papers while she got Trip acquainted with the dog. Jay handed her the papers and she placed them on the desk. "This one's for you." Jay said, handing her a small piece of paper, torn off of the corner of one of the adoption papers. Figuring it was his number, she refused.

"No thanks," she said. Jay smiled, folded the paper and slipped it into her jeans pocket. Before she could object, he placed a kiss on her mouth and casually strolled out of the building. A shocked Lydia watched as he skated down the street with Trip and the dog running after him.

* * *

Casey sat on the bleachers at the river court, watching Davis and he dribbled the ball up and down the court making shot after shot. She watched him in awe as when he played ball everything about him was flawless. The wind blew and Casey began to shiver, while it was still early in the day there was no sunshine and it looked as though it was going to rain.

"I'm going to go grab a sweater." Casey hollered as she made her way to her car, which was parked just on the other side of the court. Davis watched her as she walked away and smiled to himself, it was hard to believe that he had managed to land a girl who was so incredible. Davis jogged over to the bleachers and grabbed his water bottle, he took a long drink before sitting down and wiping the sweat from his face. A buzzing noise soon caught his attention, he moved his towel and saw that Casey's phone was buzzing, the number read _Unknown. _

"Babe, your phone's buzzing." Davis yelled across the court; however Casey was not in the back seat of her car, shuffling though items in search of her sweater and did not hear him. Not wanting her to miss the call Davis decided he would answer it. "Hello?"

"May I speak with Casey Hawk please?" A female's voice asked.

"She's actually a little preoccupied at the moment, can I take a message?"

"Can you just let her know that Maureen from the Health Clinic called and that her test results are in?" Davis was rendered speechless; he actually took the phone away from his ear and looked at it, trying to process what he had just heard. "Are you still there?" the woman asked.

"Yeah, I'm here. I'll give her the message."

"Thank you, have a nice day." Davis kept the phone next to his ear until he heard the line go dead. Test results from a health clinic, why would Casey being going to a health clinic, and why would she need tests done and why wouldn't she tell him? Davis's mind was going a mile a minute, and it was then that he heard Casey's car door shut and looked up. She was now, dressed in a Raven's Cheer hoodie and walking towards him. He quickly placed her phone back on the bench and tossed his towel over it, as if he had never touched it, secretly wishing he never had.

"I couldn't find anything else so I had to nab this from my cheer bag." She said cheerfully as she sat down next to him. "What?" she asked, noticing the strange expression on his face.

"Nothing, just nothing."

"Okay?" Casey said, not fully believing him. Davis rose and made his way back to the court. He and Casey were finally a real couple, so why was she lying to him, and what was she lying to him about?

* * *

"You have the most random taste in music." Jenny said, as she sat at Alex's computer and scrolled through his many songs.

"Why are you looking through all of my songs anyway?" Alex asked, from his spot on the bed.

"I need a playlist for the pool party that I'm planning with Sawyer."

"You and Sawyer have been getting along pretty well, huh?"

"I suppose you could say that. We have a lot in common, not just including you and Johnny." Jenny said, giving Alex and optimistic smile.

"I love you." Alex hadn't meant to just blurt it out, but he wanted her to know how he felt about her. He was in love with her, the way she laughed, the way she smiled, everything about her was perfect. He felt as though he saw the world in a brighter light when he was with her. Instead of proclaiming her love for him, like he had hoped, Jenny froze. She looked like a deer in the headlights, staring at him, not sure what to say. Alex briefly thought about continuing the conversation, but he really wanted to know what she was thinking.

"I should see what songs Lydia has." That wasn't what Alex was hoping for. "She's a hippie child, I bet she has some really cool sixties songs." Jenny stood from her chair and grabbed her purse from the floor beside her. Alex sat frozen in his spot, unable to process what she was saying. "I'll call you before the party and let you know the time, see ya." She placed a small kiss on his cheek before rushing out of his room. Alex remained still, he had just told the girl of his dreams that he loved her, and she rambled on about the sixties and then took off. Alex wasn't sure how he was expecting the conversation to go, but it sure wasn't like that.

* * *

Jude had just gotten home from the river court and entered him room to find a long legged blonde lying in his bed. "Revenge sex?" he asked, jokingly, Sawyer laughed.

"Ew, not on your life. I just thought I would come over and say hi."

"You mean you were coming over to check up on me after my breakup with Lydia." Jude clarified.

"Perhaps."

"Well, there's no need to worry, I'm fine." Jude and Sawyer had never been super close, she was always much closer to Davis while Lydia was the one who was close to Jude, but things were different now.

"You're not a very good liar Jude." He let out and exhausted sigh.

"Look, it sucks that we broke up and that we couldn't make it work, but I'm not going to spend the rest of my summer being sad about it."

"Do you think you could try and spend the summer being friends?" Sawyer asked, hopefully.

"What is it with you people and wanting us to be friends? We haven't even been broken up that long; I'm trying to just give it some time."

"You're right, I'm sorry."

"It's fine, how are you and Johnny?" He asked, changing the subject. At the mention of his name, Sawyer's face lit up.

"Good, really good. I missed him so much and it just feels right being with him again."

"That's good, I'm really happy for you guys. I feel like an ass for thinking he was in to Lydia, but they're a weird guess for friends. At least I think so."

"It was unexpected, and its weird having your boyfriend be best friends with the girl who used to be your best friend, but I trust them."

"I should have."

* * *

Lydia locked the front door to the shelter and hopped into her car. She wanted to relax and thought a good way to do that was to go to the movies. She could just sit in a dark theater, eat popcorn and forget all about the world outside. While she did want peace, the idea of going to a movie alone just seemed depressing. She pulled her phone out of her bag and dialed Johnny's number. It rang several times and she was about to hang up when he finally answered.

"Lydia, hey."

"Hi Johnny."

"What's up?" He asked.

"I just finished up at the shelter and I was wondering if you wanted to catch a movie or something, my treat?"

"That sounds like fun, but I'm actually on my way to Sawyer's house right now, I'm having dinner with the family."

"Oh, well that should be fun, Lucas and Peyton are awesome."

"I hope everything goes smoothly."

"I'm sure it will. I should let you get going, call me tomorrow and let me know how it goes."

"Will do, bye Lyd's."

"Bye." Lydia hung up the phone, but kept it in her hand. She didn't want to just go home, not yet, the night was still young. She couldn't call Davis because he was probably with Casey and Jenny would be with Alex and well it was obvious why she couldn't call Jude. She was about to give up and settle for a night of sweat pants and comedy specials when she remembered the piece of paper in her pocket. She pulled it out, unfolded it and stared at it for a good five minutes before reluctantly dialing the number. It rang twice before he answered.

"Hello?"

"Jay?"

"This is him."

"It's Lydia, the girl from the shelter."

"I had a feeling you'd call."

**There you have it, the most recent chapter. Please REVIEW and let me know what you think.**


	9. Skater Boy

**I'm so sorry, to whoever is still reading this, that it has taken me soooo long to update. With school and work I havent really had time for any writing. Also, a HUGE thankyou to everyone who has said such wonderful things about my story, your comments are what motivate me to keep writing. Anyway, I hope you enjoy.**

**Chapter Nine – Skater Boy**

"Okay, how does it look here?" Jenny asked.

"A little higher."

"Here?"

"Perfect." Jenny taped the bright banner the fence and made her way over to Casey, to help her with the food. Jenny began grabbing can of pop out of the cooler, she went to place the on the picnic table and ended up knocking in to the ketchup and mustard on the ground, she bent to pick them up but hit her head on the way down.

"Ouch." She rubbed her head.

"What is going on with you?" Casey asked slightly amused.

"I'm sorry, there's just something on my mind."

"Like what?"

"Nothing, it doesn't matter, forget I said anything."

"Jenny, you're all over to place, what is going on?"

"Alex told me he loved me."

"Oh my god, that's awesome, you guys are adorable. Wait, why is that the thing making you crazy? He said I love you." It took Casey and minute to realize the problem. "You said it back right?"

"I was caught off guard!" Jenny exclaimed.

"Then what did you say?"

"I mumbled something about Lydia being a hippie and sixties music."

"That would explain our playlist for the evening."

"Casey, focus! What am I supposed to do?"

"Do you love him?"

"Of course I love him, he makes everything bad go away, and I feel like he sees me as this amazing person who could save the world."

"Tell him that."

"I will, I mean I have to, I will." Jenny said, trying to convince Casey, as well as herself. "Is Davis bringing the beer?"

"I think so, I'm not sure I haven't talked to him since the other night, I left him a message and he usually calls back, but he hasn't yet."

"He's probably just busy, he'll call."

"I know you planned this whole thing, but I would just really rather not go."

* * *

"Come on, if Jenny and I can become friends than I'm sure you can spend one evening at the same party as her." Sawyer said, currently sitting on the end of Johnny's bed trying to convince him to come to the pool party that she had planned.

"It's just still really weird."

"What am I going to have to do to get you to go to this thing?"

"I can think of a couple things." Johnny replied, smiling.

"Okay, number one, ew. And number two, even if I wanted to we don't have time for that."

"Believe me babe, I can be fast." Sawyer rolled her eyes.

"You're my boyfriend now right?" She asked.

"Right."

"And as my boyfriend you have to do things that make me happy, even if you really don't want too. And one of those things is going to this party."

"You're my girlfriend now right?" Johnny asked.

"Yes."

"And as my girlfriend you have to respect my wishes and I wish to not go to this party." Sawyer stood with her hands on her hips looking at him.

"I'm going to go get in the car, and if you're not sitting next to me in five minutes, well you don't want to know what's going to happen. Are we clear?"

"Crystal."

* * *

Davis, Jude and Alex all made their way in to Sawyer's backyard, booze in hand. "Well, it looks as though the party has arrived." Said Casey.

"Indeed it has." Davis acknowledged, "Is anyone else coming to this party, or is it just us?"

"Jenny invited a couple girls from the squad and Johnny invites some guys from the team, so it should be pretty low key, unlike your last party." Sawyer stated.

"You mean the one where I was put in a coma?"

"That would be the one."

"Why don't you boys go put the beer in the cooler and we'll get this barbeque going." Casey instructed. "What does everybody want?" She was answered with a chorus of 'hotdog' and 'hamburger' so she had Jenny take a proper count.

"Six hamburgers and eight hotdogs, we have some hungry boys here." Jenny informed her. "Where's Lydia?"

"I don't know, she said she would be here but I haven't talked to her in a couple days."

"Has anyone heard from Lydia?" Sawyer asked.

"I talked to her last night for a minute before I came to your place, but she didn't say anything about the party. I'll text her and remind her." Johnny said. He pulled out his phone and sent Lydia a quick message, and then cast a glance at Jude who was already half way into his first beer.

"Well, I'm going to go put my bathing suit on, are you guys coming?" Jenny asked Casey and Sawyer. Both girls nodded and followed Jenny into the house. "You guys this is weird."

"What do you mean?" Sawyer asked.

"Alex won't look at me, Johnny is afraid of me, Jude is already getting drunk and Lydia didn't even show up! I should have just cancelled this stupid party." Jenny answered.

"Relax okay, Alex will come around, Johnny will loosen up, I'll tell Davis to make sure Jude takes it easy on the beer and Lydia will be here soon." Casey said.

"And besides," Sawyer said "we still have some more people coming. Soon you won't even notice Alex's weirs stares or Johnny flinching every time you pick something up." Despite herself, Jenny smiled. "I'm sure Lydia's just lost track of time, she would never miss a party."

* * *

"This shit is too weird." Johnny said, as he and Davis stood by the pool, sipping on their beers. Davis laughed. "I'm at a party with my ex-girlfriend who planned the party with my new girlfriend with whom I cheated on said ex-girlfriend with."

"Yeah, I guess that would be a bit of an awkward situation to be in. But look on the bright side, at least Jenny hasn't threatened you with bodily harm yet."

"Yeah, there is that. So what about you and Casey, how's that going?" Davis thought for a moment about the call he answered on her phone. She was keeping something from him, and ever since he had heard it he had been distant. He hadn't called her because he wasn't sure what to do yet. Should he just ask her point blank, or try and get her to tell him? Normally he would wait to see if she told him on her own, but the call was from a clinic. This had him worried that there was something wrong with her.

"We're good." Was the answer he gave.

"How's your brother holding up?" Johnny asked, as both guys cast a glance at Jude who was talking to Alex.

"I think he's struggling with it. First heartbreak doesn't just go away, but they both think that it's what was best for right now. I mean, I haven't talked to Lydia in a while, but Casey tells me things."

"She's doing okay, I feel kind of bad for blowing her off last night."

"You didn't blow her off, you just had other plans."

"I guess you're right. She just hasn't been around much lately and I promised her that we would face all of this crap together and right now I don't really feel as though I'm doing that."

"I'm sure she understands that you're just trying to figure things out with Sawyer, besides I've known Lydia for a long time and believe me, she can take care of herself."

* * *

Lydia dangled her feet in the pool and leaned back on her palms. She closed her eyes and inhaled deeply, just enjoying the warm night air.

"SHIT!" Lydia heard the loud curse, and then a skidding sound followed by thump. She opened her eyes and looked to the bottom of the pool. There, Jay lay on his back, his skateboard rolling to the shallow end. Jay had convinced Lydia to sneak in to a random person's backyard so that he could skate their empty pool.

"I think you need more practice on that one." She called out to him.

"You think?" he replied sarcastically. She nodded. He stood and rubbed his back, which now was covered in scraps as he wasn't wearing a shirt. Lydia had spent last night hanging out with Jay and while he was a cocky smart ass, she couldn't help but find herself intrigued, he wasn't like anyone she had ever met before. She felt like a different person around him, and she liked that.

"So, do you break into people's backyards often?" She asked.

"Only if they've got a pool." He replied. "Now why don't you make yourself useful and go sit in the deep end."

"Now, why would I do that?" She asked, making her way over to him.

"I want to see if I can clear you on my next run." Lydia gave him a doubtful look.

"After I just watched you crash and burn, I don't think so."

"I do." He said, reaching for the string on her Cape Alder Jacket, using it to pull her towards him. They were now standing in the middle of the empty pool, Jay placed his hand on the back of Lydia's head and brought her mouth to his. Lydia melted in to the kiss, allowing him full access to every inch of her mouth. He used his other hand by placing it on the small of her back and bringing her body flush against his. Lydia moaned as he pulled away. "Now will you go sit, please?"

"Fine." Lydia made her way to the deep end, and sat down crossed legged. She closed her eyes and waited. She heard the skateboard on the concrete getting closer, soon it was behind her and then finally it faded out.

"You can open your eyes now." Lydia complied. "You missed it, all because you didn't have faith." Lydia rolled her eyes, when she felt her phone buzzing in her pocket. She pulled it out and read a text from Johnny about the pool party. She as hoping no one would notice that she wasn't there, as she was enjoying her own pool party.

"I've got to get going." She said, standing, "my friends are bugging because I'm not at some thing."

"We can't have your friends worrying, now can we?" Lydia shook her head. "Listen, some guys and I are going to Raleigh this weekend, there's some club they heard about. Feel like coming?"

"Sure, sounds like fun."

"You haven't met my friends." Lydia simply smiled, walked up to Jay and ran her hands down his bare chest, stopping to let her fingers linger on his belt, leaned forward and placed a small kiss on his mouth.

"I'll see you later."

* * *

Davis watched Casey as she picked empty plastic cups off the ground and placed them in a large trash bag. He made his way over to her slowly, picking up various pieces of trash on the way. He placed them in her large bag and she smiled at him. "Are you okay?" she asked, "you've been acting kind of weird lately."

"Umm, are you okay?" she gave him a confused look,

"I'm fine, what's going on with you?"

"What's going on with you?" he asked.

"Davis, you're just repeating everything I'm saying."

"Why were you at the health clinic?"

"How did you know I was at the clinic?" she asked.

"Maureen called, she said your test results were in."

"What, did you answer my phone?"

"That's not the point, why are you at the clinic, and what tests were you having done? Are you sick?" he asked, now holding her by the shoulders.

"I cannot believe you would invade my privacy like that!"

"I don't give a shit about your privacy, not when your health is involved, so just tell me what is going on."

"I might be pregnant, now are you glad you answered my phone?"

* * *

Lydia walked in to the backyard and looked around, the first thing she noticed was Jenny sitting alone at a table full of empty cups. Lydia pulled out a chair and sat down next to her. "Nice of you to show up." Jenny said. Lydia gave her half a smile.

"Sorry about that. I kind of thought I might spoil the good time."

"Please, I took care of that all by myself."

"What do you mean?"

"I screwed up, really big, with Alex. I've been avoiding him all night, not to mention Casey and Alex are fighting and Johnny is going to amazing lengths to stay at least 20ft away from me at all times." Lydia couldn't help but laugh.

"I'm sorry, it's just that I thought my day was weird."

"Where have you been all night?" Jenny asked.

"Just, with a friend."

**Thanks for reading and please, please review!**


	10. Good Time

**A big thankyou to anyone who is still reading my story. I know I haven't posted in a while, and honestly I have been working on this chapter for what seems like forever, so I hope you like it! Also, please don't forget to leave some feedback, thanks.**

**Chapter Ten – Good Time**

"She didn't say it man, she just looked at me like I had three heads and then took off."

"That's rough man, I'm sorry." Jude and Alex were sitting next to each other at the café, grabbing a drink after playing a game of one on one.

"I thought we were good," said Alex "I was happy, she was happy. Everything was good."

"Maybe she just wasn't ready. When you get your heart broken its kind of hard to give it out again."

"What do you mean?"

"Well," said Jude "the last time she was in love, it was with Johnny right?"

"Yeah."

"And look how that ended. He cheated on her with Sawyer, they were sneaking around for god knows how long. She's probably just having a hard time trusting people."

"That, actually makes a lot of sense. Have you been reading Cosmo or something?" They both laughed.

"Nah, I'm just a lot more insightful than one would think."

* * *

Casey sat in her car, phone pressed to her ear listening to it ring and ring. She had been trying to reach Davis for the past hour, but he wasn't answering her calls or responding to her texts. She hadn't gained the courage to call the clinic back, and was still unaware if she was with child. She remained seated with the phone pressed firmly to her ear, when she was interrupted by a knock on her passenger window.

It was Sawyer. Casey unlocked her doors and she climbed in.

"I thought I saw you sitting in here" said Sawyer. "What's going on?"

"Just being ignored by Davis, he won't return my calls."

"What's going on with you guys? Everything seemed to be going really good and then at the party he just took off."

Casey looked down at her phone. "If I tell you something will you promise not to tell anyone?" She asked.

"Of course." Said Sawyer.

"I might be pregnant."

"What?"

"I've been feeling sick for a while now, so I went to the clinic with Lydia and had some tests done. I didn't tell Davis about it, but he answered by phone when the clinic called about my results and now he's all mad that I didn't tell him about it."

"Why didn't you?"

"I didn't want him to freak out. This whole thing could just turn out to be nothing and I didn't want him to get all worried."

"Wait, you said he answered the phone when the clinic called about your results."

"Yeah" said Casey, not sure where Sawyer was going with this.

"So does he know the results?"

"No, they wouldn't give them to anyone who wasn't me."

"Have you called them back yet?"

"Not exactly."

"Why not?" Sawyer exclaimed.

"I'm scared okay. If I am pregnant than everything changes., my whole world, Davis's whole world. I mean, I can't be a mom."

"Huh."

"What?" Casey asked.

"Nothing, I just think you would be a pretty cool mom. Defiantly the hottest mom I've ever seen."

Despite herself Casey laughed. "That's true." She looked at Sawyer with a sad smile. "Thanks friend."

"Anytime."

* * *

"Where's your girl at?" Davis asked Johnny as he walked into the café. Johnny was just finishing off his lunch.

"Which one?" he asked, unsure if Davis was talking about Sawyer or Lydia.

"Lydia, my mom wants to invite her and her mom to some spa day thing, but I can't seem to find her."

"Actually now that you mention it, I haven't heard from her in a few days." Johnny said, pulling out his phone to send her a text.

"You think she's alright?" Davis asked.

"I'm sure she's fine, probably just caught up in some book or something."

"You don't think maybe she's still having a hard time with the break up, do you?"

"Nah, she seemed to be getting along fine, better then Jude really." Johnny said.

"I guess, but none of us have really made a huge effort to hang out with her since it all happened. We all just kind of assumed she would be fine."

"I'll go to her place tonight. I'll sit in her room and wait for her if I have to, and if there is something wrong, I'll fix it."

* * *

Jenny sat next to Alex sat next to each other both feeling uncomfortable around each other. Jenny had finally convinced Alex to come over to her house so they could talk, but so far no one had said a thing. They didn't touch or say a word, they just sat staring at the tv watching some reality show about hunting ducks.

"Are you hungry?" Jenny asked, finally breaking the silence. Alex didn't say anything, he just shook his head. "Are you ever going to talk to me?" she asked.

He turned to face her, "no, I'm not hungry." He turned back to the tv.

"So you're just going to stay mad at me for forever? I'm sorry I didn't say anything back okay, you just caught me off guard." Alex let out a large sigh and turned off the tv.

"I'm the one who's sorry."

"What?" Jenny asked, surprised.

"So what if you don't feel the same way about me. I can wait until you're ready." Jenny leaned over and kissed Alex with everything she had. This boy was amazing, she couldn't believe how lucky she had gotten.

"Do you want something to drink?" Alex asked, rising from the couch.

"Sure I'll have…"

"A half Frutopia half Sprite with three ice cubes." Alex said, finishing her sentence for her. She looked at him amazed. Something as simple as knowing the drink she liked showed her how much he cared about her, how much he loved her. It was in this moment that she decided to take a chance, she decided to risk everything and finally tell him how she felt.

"Me too." Was all she said. Alex gave her a slightly confused look.

"What?"

"Me too, I mean I love you. I love you too, and I'm sorry it took me so long realize it." Without saying anything Alex walked over to Jenny and kissed her. She kissed him back, running her hands through his hair. He pinned her underneath him on the couch and she smiled. Who knew telling the truth would feel this good?

* * *

Lydia walked hand in hand with Jay as they approached the club. The two had taken the train into Raleigh to meet up with some of Jay's friends. Lydia hated to admit it, but she was nervous. She had really grown to like Jay, and she wanted to make a good impression on his friends. She looked at her reflection in the widow of a shop they were passing. She had on a tight black bandage dress with tan platform pumps. Her hair was down and pin straight and her makeup was light. She kept tugging at her dress, pulling at the hem.

"Babe, would you relax please?" Jay asked as he flicked his cigarette to the ground.

"Sorry" she replied.

"You got your ID?" Jay asked as the two approached the doors to the club. She nodded and handed it to the bouncer, he looked at it for what seemed like forever, before he lifted the rope and let them enter. The club was pretty packed, there were people everywhere, dancing, drinking and just having a good time. Lydia hung back as Jay made his way to the bar and ordered them some beers. She watched him and smiled to herself. Something about him made her want to take risks, try new things, and just have a good time. She didn't need to be nervous, she wasn't the shy girl with the crush anymore. She took a swig from her beer and followed Jay to a group of people sitting at a table near the back.

"Guys, this is Lydia." Lydia gave a casual nod at the table full of people. There were three other guys who had a style similar to Jay's and a girl with a mess of blonde hair all piled on the top of her head.

"I'm Allison" she said, moving over so Lydia could sit down. "This is Jared, Shane and Luke."

"Damn Jay, do they grow them all like that up in Tree Hill?" The one named Luke asked as he eyes Lydia up and down.

"Nah, just mine." Jay said. He sat down next to Lydia and placed his hand on her thigh. Lydia was enjoying the feeling when the music suddenly changes and Allison jumped up.

"Oh my god, I love this song. Who wants to dance?" Lydia listened to the song and recognized it as_ We'll be Coming Back One Day _by Calvin Harris. When none of the boys stood, Lydia got to her feet.

"I'll dance." She said.

"Awesome." Allison grabbed her hand and the two girls made their way to the dance floor. It was crowded and hot people all dancing and touching. Lights were flashing, strobe lights were going off and everyone looked like a hot mess. Lydia and Allison dance together, giving everyone around them a show.

Lydia was getting lost in the music when she felt a hand on her hip and lips on the back of her neck. She knew immediately it was Jay, she could tell just by the way he touched her. She immediately sunk into him and placed her body flush against his. She reached back and ran her hand through his hair while his hand began playing with the very short hem of her dress. Not being able to take it anymore, Lydia turned and kissed him. She gripped the sides of his head and pulled him completely into her while his hands continued to roam over her body. Lydia knew it was crazy, but she could feel herself falling for this guy. He made her feel alive and really want to live her life. She knew he was a risk, but at that moment she wanted nothing more than to jump off the edge and leave behind everything she thought she knew.

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